


Lost to be Found

by courtingdemons



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Roommates, unexplained but accepted magic where objects can disappear and rematerialize
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:15:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27552937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/courtingdemons/pseuds/courtingdemons
Summary: Oh my god, they were roommates. And absolute fools.OR: A person's lost belongings appear near their soulmate once they've met. Donghyuck tends to not lose anything because his roommate always finds it.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Lee Jeno
Comments: 34
Kudos: 387
Collections: '00 FIC FEST ROUND TWO





	Lost to be Found

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!
> 
> Written for 00FF's prompt #00457, thanks to the prompter and if you're reading, I hope you like it!
> 
> I thought I’d try something new for me and make this take place in Toronto, Canada. In this story, they've been in Canada their whole lives and aren't international students.
> 
> If you don’t know, in Canada, university years are from September to April with 2 semesters, each being 4 months: September - December is 1st semester, January - April is 2nd semester. It’s sprinkled throughout the fic, so thought I'd put some info here.
> 
> Enjoy~

**1st Year - 1st Semester - 2nd Month**

Donghyuck was not above trying to lose his belongings on purpose. 

He'd had high hopes for college. Donghyuck was convinced that after coming to a university with thousands of students, attending every lecture, and joining multiple clubs, he would have at least brushed past the love of his life or made a millisecond of eye contact with his other half. It wouldn't take much, just a single, minuscule interaction and suddenly all his lost things going forward would end up with his soulmate while their lost possessions would appear by his side. 

But that does not seem to be the case a month and 3 days in. Donghyuck _is_ counting.

Donghyuck doesn't tend to lose things often but going weeks and weeks without misplacing anything seems unforgivable. The fact that no little objects are materializing in his new shared apartment also does not indicate the existence of a soulmate he's already met.

Still, Donghyuck is a stubborn person, possibly even more than he's a romantic, and if he won't serendipitously lose a thing or two, he'll have to take matters into his own hands.

So, he stands in the middle of his shared room and writes a little note on his palm about an essay due on Sunday with a blue pen he's not particularly attached to. He thinks he hears a notification on his phone and drops the pen in his hand to grab it off the table. 

The pen lands at his feet and stays there. 

Donghyuck looks at his phone, an email about a club meeting. Donghyuck keeps his eyes on his phone as he makes for the door, carelessly kicking the pen farther into the room with the sole of his shoe. He doesn't turn around to check where it ends up and couldn't tell you the location without having to search for it. 

The pen is, for all intents and purposes once Donghyuck twists the definition a little bit, lost. 

Donghyuck's roommate Jeno is a nice dude. He's a Computer Science major, compared to Haechan's English and Voice Studies double major, keeps to himself, is very nice to look at (only according to Jaemin after Donhyuck sent him Jeno's Instagram. Donghyuck swears he has no opinions, personally), and cleans up after himself.

However, as he stands there holding the blue pen in his outstretched hand a mere two hours later, Donghyuck wants to deck him.

"I found it and thought it was mine at first but you engraved your name and number on it, so I thought I'd return it." Jeno has an easy-going smile on his face.

He’s just being helpful, Donghyuck tells himself. Jeno doesn’t know Donghyuck is trying to banish his pen to his soulmate. So, he must remember the lessons from childhood and be polite.

"Thank you, I don't know where it went!" Donghyuck takes the pen and thumbs at where he’d painstakingly engraved his number.

"It was with my pencils and pens. I probably took it from a table accidentally, sorry.” 

More like picked it up off the floor, Donghyuck thinks but is quick to wave away the apology. 

Donghyuck’s tempted to lose a few more things, just to double and triple check, but his mom did say that the time would come when it wants to and not a moment before, regardless of how impatient he is.

And thus, a plan thwarted.

In the end, he puts on Kissing Booth and wishes it was him instead, finding his soulmate in some highschool or college kissing booth. 

**1st Year - 2nd Semester - 2nd month**

It's not that Donghyuck was expecting university to be easy, not at all. 

He's a hardworking person who excels at working smart. His wealth of knowledge on how to maintain a high average throughout high school includes: write papers that argue in favour of what the teacher believes in, maintain a good relationship with people who do their homework so that you have partners in groups projects, and do essays related to Shakespeare plays the morning it’s due from 2-5 am because that's when nothing feels real and your brain reaches the same wavelength as the long passed bard. 

He came to university armed with this understanding, along with his impeccable language and vocal skills, and expected that he would overcome any hardships. 

What he did not expect was Python. 

"She said print statements would let me figure out where I'm crashing but it crashes before even printing anything, this useless, insolent, unbelievable piece of code" Donghyuck mutters to himself, cursing his professor in his mind as well for good measure. 

He has no coding requirements for his degree and despite people saying it’s good to have knowledge of programming these days, he regrets choosing the elective nonetheless. 

Donghyuck squints at the 50 or so lines of code until the letters blur and he can't decipher any of them. His eyes water. 

He rubs his eyes and nearly pokes it out as the loud bang startles him. Jeno stands at his door, both hands holding his laptop and the leg he kicked the door with still outstretched, looking sheepish.

"Oops," he says and offers a smile. 

Donghyuck pats the spot to his right and Jeno clambers over to his bed. The past 6 months, a semester and a half, of sharing a room and getting along has allowed the gesture. 

"Donghyuck," Jeno heaves a sigh. "I can't do this actually."

"What's _this_?"

“That English course you convinced me to take as an elective this semester even though I’m a STEM major," Jeno gives him the stink eye. 

"Hey now," Donghyuck says indignantly. "I didn't convince you of anything. We simply decided to trade and take a course from each other's major as electives for fun. That's why I'm stuck with this mess." Donghyuck nods toward his laptop.

"Well, I can't do it. I think I'm gonna drop this course 8 weeks into the semester, Donghyuck, 8 weeks into the semester." Jeno looks horrified at the prospect.

"Is it... difficult? I took it last semester but it was fine? The TAs graded fairly and everything." 

"The TAs can't grade fairly if I don't even have an essay to hand in, oh my god," Jeno whines. He frantically types something into his computer. "I'm gonna drop this course right now and you're gonna watch me do it and cheer me on."

"I don't know, maybe you should think about this more, let me look-" 

Donghyuck's cut off by Jeno's groan. "The fucking drop deadline passed. It's passed and gone and if I drop it now I'll still have to pay the tuition fee, oh, for fuck's sake." Jeno pulls at a tuft of his own hair. Donghyuck admires the strength of Jeno’s scalp when his hand doesn’t come away with even a strand of hair.

He frantically types onto the search bar and ends up on a different page. "I'm gonna credit/no credit it. I'm gonna do it. I don't need this stupid course pulling down my GPA." 

"Save your CR/NCRs for later years when you actually need them. Just let me see what you have, I can salvage something to get you a 75 no matter how bad it is and if my hunch is right and it's actually not too bad, I can even give you pointers to get a 90." Donghyuck puts a hand to his chest, "I'm quite good at this if I do say so myself. Trust me."

Jeno doesn't protest as Donghyuck takes the laptop into his lap and gets his mental editor hat on.

Jeno stares intently at the screen as Donghyuck reads the introduction, practically breathing down his neck. Donghyuck sighs and reaches over to grasp his own momentarily abandoned laptop, handing it to Jeno.

"Instead of watching me edit, look at the function causing my demise, Mr. Python Man."

"I work in Java, though?"

Donghyuck shrugs. "You're a software engineer, though? I want an answer to why this crashes before it even does anything. I’ve been staring at it for a while but can’t find anything wrong, so I expect it’ll be a difficult solution. Maybe it’ll be that I’m right and the computer’s malfunctioning, that’s always a possibility to keep in mind."

It's easier to read through the essay without the feeling of being watched and Donghyuck adds notes about how to make an argument stronger or cites a passage he vaguely remembers from when he read the books for the course himself.

It doesn't take long and Donghyuck's impressed both with Jeno's writing and his ability to make dramatics out of nothing.

The two of them aren't sitting so close that they’re touching but Donghyuck is now keenly aware of all of Jeno’s movements. Jeno makes interesting little noises from beside him as he scrolls through lines of code and cocks his head to the side in an overwhelmingly cute gesture when he spots something interesting. He takes deep, even breaths and that makes Donghyuck aware of his own breathing, which is an uncomfortable feeling. 

"Why are you crying over this essay when it would get you at least a 70 without any more editing? I gave you some pointers, so focus on them to make your paper more persuasive. Also, come up with a clever title. The professor loves those, even if it has minimal relation to how good your essay really is."

"Nice! Thank you! My entire saviour!" Jeno’s over exaggerating but Donghyuck feels nice about the compliment, anyway.

"As expected," Donghyuck pretends to flip his hair. "So is the computer actually wrong and my code is perfect?"

"Oh, no, I found the error within the first minute, your argument isn't true and so it doesn't go into the while loop and none of your code gets executed, so your print statement doesn't get printed either. Also, you really didn't need these," Jeno highlights a few lines of code. "There are built-in methods for that. Just been reading through the whole thing, the project's quite fun."

Donghyuck grumbles about "how am I supposed to just know about the existence of every built-in function, that shit took me at least 12 years to figure out" but he finally gives up the pretense and smiles. "Thanks, Jeno."

“God, now I gotta finish this edit and hand it in by midnight,” groans Jeno. He gets off the bed and stretches his arms and wiggles his body a little. “Whatever, time to just do this for a few hours and then literally never think about it again. Can’t wait. Thanks again.”

“Buy me ice cream if you’re grateful,” Donghyuck says.

Jeno hums all wishy-washy. He grabs his laptop and makes for the door, he’ll probably be working in the dorm common room. 

Something catches Donghyuck’s eyes and he stretches his hand to the space between his bed and his desk to grab it. He scrunches his nose when he realizes what it is and doesn’t hesitate to throw it at Jeno’s retreating back. 

“Take all your shit, dude. I don’t want your stinky socks on my side of the room.” They’re a simple pair of socks, just black with some white stripes near the toes and ankle.

Jeno balances his laptop on one hand and scratches the back of his head where the sock hit him in a cute cartoonish gesture. “Oh dang, was it near your things? I was looking for it this morning, actually. Sorry, I’ll keep it in my closet next time.” He picks the material up and walks out. 

Donghyuck goes back to his newly bugless code.

**2nd Year - 1st Semester - 2nd Month**

Donghyuck stuffs 5 too many chips into his mouth at once before thrusting his hands under the running water, letting the crumbs wash away. He and Jeno have been on a call for 2 hours now, talking about everything under the sun and recounting the past 4 days since they’d last seen each other. For Donghyuck, it was nothing but lazing around and for Jeno, it was family drama. Donghyuck is succeeding in convincing himself the way he misses Jeno is the same way and reason he misses Jaemin after not seeing him for a while.

It’s reading week and they should definitely be catching up on all the lecture material, completing the endless pile of assignments, and preparing for midterms but why do that when Jeno could take it as a weeklong vacation to go see his family in Vancouver and Donghyuck could spend the week sleeping and gaming and catching up on shows. He’ll get at least 1 assignment done, he’s promised to himself. It’s halfway through the week and he still hasn’t started but there’s still time.

This reading week should be going better, considering it’s the 3rd in their university career, but no lessons were learned from the previous two where nothing was accomplished all week and they scrambled to do all their homework on the Sunday before school started again. 

Donghyuck wipes his hands on his sweatpants before going back to the couch. There’s a pixelated Jeno on his laptop screen, scrolling on his phone. 

He looks up when he hears Donghyuck come back. “Took you long enough, my hair was greying out here and for a second I thought the room would fill up before you came.”

Donghyuck snickers. “Your hair’s going grey without my help, old man.” He ignores Jeno’s protest of how he’s only 44 days older. He’d know that, the nerd. Regardless, Donghyuck’s not getting crumbs on his electronics and if Jeno can’t wait for 2 minutes, that’s simply not his problem.

They play 5 rounds of Among Us, some incredibly short and some so long that their hearts are beating out of their chests in anticipation by the end. It’s fun to discuss which of the other players might be the imposter, try to trick the other into revealing who the imposter is if they’re dead while the ghost sits tightlipped, to be accusing each other with or without proof, and to just both be dead and chilling, such as now. 

“God, Yellow is such a good liar. I should get them to teach me.” Donghyuck shakes his head as he watches the yellow little imposter convince others they’re a crewmate and that it’s Pink who’s actually the imposter.

“You’re already nearly there, you scheming menace. How is it I can barely tell when you’re the imposter even though I can hear you speak and I’ve known you for so long?” 

“Maybe you’re just naive and not too observant. Also, not at all good at defending yourself,” Donghyuck says, thinking about how Jeno had found and reported Donghyuck’s dead body after Yellow had killed him but Yellow had convinced the others that it was a self-report and Jeno was the imposter, leading to him getting voted out. Donghyuck admires Yellow very much. 

“I’d be insulted but honestly, my mom’s been calling me unobservant the whole time I’ve been here. I lost my Apple Pencil and It’s been kinda upsetting, not gonna lie.”

Donghyuck furrows his eyebrows. “Sucks, you still have your iPad, right? When’d you lose the Pencil?” 

“Like two days ago when I was all ‘you know, it’s reading week, time to get in some reading and studying’ only to realize that it was nowhere to be found. Anyway, no homework has been done because it’s all on my iPad and I guess nothing’s stopping me from doing math problems on pen and paper except the fact that I don’t want to.” Jeno suddenly gets a new burst of energy, “What’s pissing me off even more is that my sister has a first-generation Pencil but because it’s Apple, of course it doesn’t work on my iPad.” 

“A whole scam,” Donghyuck agrees. “Can you buy into the scam and get another one?”

Jeno shakes his head. “It’s almost 200 dollars, I can’t just drop all my money on it right now. I’ll probably have to switch to pen and paper for the rest of the semester and save up for a new one. Not looking forward to it.” 

“Oh, that sucks. Maybe it’s still stuck in some crevice of your suitcase, make sure to double-check.”

Jeno hums in agreement. 

The screen on the game changes to show defeat for crewmates as Yellow takes victory as Imposter. 

gg, Donghyuck types into the chat as they wait for the next round.

No task goes undone when Donghyuck has homework to do. He’d read the instructions for the assignment he was planning on doing and promptly decided to do the laundry instead. 

Despite the fact that there’s a hamper to put all their dirty clothes, Jeno and Donghyuck throw all their clothes onto The Chair. It sits against the wall between their two desks and there’s a small mountain of clothes atop it.

Donghyuck carefully grabs his t-shirt and two pairs of Adidas track pants from the pile, making sure not to topple it. As he pulls his favourite hoodie free from the near-bottom of the pile, something drops to the floor with a loud clang. 

Seeing the Apple Pencil lying there, thankfully unbroken from the drop and all inconspicuous as if Jeno hadn’t been sad about losing it even though he hadn’t even taken it home, Donghyuck has to shake his head as his chest bubbles with fondness. 

A fool but at least one who hasn’t lost their near 200 dollar stylus. He goes to text Jeno a photo. 

**2nd Year - 2nd Semester - 3rd Month**

Donghyuck shivers as Jeno places his palm under his chin. His fingers are cold but it still leaves traces of warmth on Donghyuck's skin. 

"Get up, our stop's next," Jeno says. 

Donghyuck whines and doesn't move from where his head lays comfortably on Jeno's shoulder. 

"I really don't wanna have to round back if we miss the stop because of the crowd, come on," Jeno scratches below Donghyuck's chin like he's a cat. "Let's get to the doors."

His hand is so big, Donghyuck marvels, and so soft.

It's not quite rush hour but the subway cart is packed at 4:30 pm regardless as they reach downtown. It's a lot of "excuse me"s, stumbling, and rude or accidental elbowing before they manage to exit the train and then the subway station. 

A cold breeze greets them as soon as they step outside and Donghyuck lifts his shoulders higher, tucking his chin into his coat.

"It was definitely not this cold 20 minutes ago when we got on the subway, was it?" Jeno asks through chattering teeth. 

“Definitely not,” Donghyuck agrees. “I left my gloves at home because the me of an hour ago was infinitely foolish and now I’m regretting it.”

Jeno takes Donghyuck’s right hand in his gloved one. “I’ll keep this one warm, put your other hand in your pocket.”

Donghyuck obeys. He is acutely aware of his hand in Jeno’s and has to doubly concentrate on where he is stepping. 

The roads are gross now, a far cry from the start of winter when snow fell to a thin sheet of white before melting away without a trace, or when the holiday cheer made everything seem magical. Walking during March is just a game of avoiding stepping on gray mush here, yellow snow there, or the slipper black ice everywhere. 

Donghyuck regrets saying he’d rather take on the harshest of winters than summer in early August; he’s certain that was a better time and wishes for it to come back. He knows he’ll likely regret this thought too when August rolls around once again and he starts feeling like he’s being baked in an oven.

Jeno rubs his thumb along Donghyuck’s skin, probably unaware that he’s even doing it. It tickles a little and makes Donghyuck’s heart beat faster. 

Donghyuck wonders if he’s getting sick, what with the way his heart is at his throat and he feels his face getting warmer and his palm starts sweating despite the chilly weather. Donghyuck wants to just enjoy the little touch, to make it last as long as possible, but he has to physically swallow to stop himself from spilling his emotions out right then and there. 

“Let go of my hand, I need to pull my hood up,” Donghyuck croaks. He wipes his suddenly sweaty hand on his coat and fastens his coat hood, making sure it won’t blow off in the wind. 

Jeno puts his left hand in his pocket and Donghyuck can’t quite tell over the sound of the city and his hoodie blocking his ears, but he might be humming.

Poor dude, Donghyuck thinks. He’s just walking to his destination with a friend, humming, thinking of mundane things and here Donghyuck is; a mess. 

He’s not used to his emotions being this out of control and does his best to reign them in.

Donghyuck concentrates on thinking of all the reasons he shouldn’t confess, such as the fact that they are friends and roommates and they’re supposed to get a room together off-campus next September, he can’t ruin all this with one-sided feelings. Jeno’s likely waiting for his soulmate and hell, _Donghyuck_ is waiting for his soulmate, even if he’s a little preoccupied right now. 

His heart rate comes down back to normal as Donghyuck talks himself out of a spur-of-the-moment reckless decision. 

"What am I even playing with?" Jeno mutters and brings his hand out of his pocket, clutching a handful of objects. 

There's a gum wrapper, a container of 0.7mm mechanical pencil lead, and a keychain.

"What is this?" Jeno asks at the same as Donghyuck's "hey, that's mine!"

"I can't believe you stole my keychain and I went out yesterday and bought another one already because I thought I'd lost it," Donghyuck pouts. 

Jeno stares at his palm and Donghyuck has to gently guide him by the elbow to prevent him from accidentally bumping into a pole. 

"I probably swiped it from the bowl of keychains in our room by accident, sorry, I can't really remember." 

Jeno's confused face is quite cute, Donghyuck must admit. 

Donghyuck blames it all on Jeno's pretty face when he has to frantically grab onto Jeno in sudden desperation as he nearly slips on ice because he wasn't looking where he was going. Jeno's eyes widen in concern for a second but once he realizes that Donghyuck's alright, he giggles. 

It’s some friendly teasing between friends, Donghyuck reminds himself as his heart does a jumping jack and three summersaults at hearing Jeno’s laugh. 

"Stop laughing or I'll push you," Donghyuck threatens. 

Jeno doesn't stop but Donghyuck doesn't have the heart to push him either, so he lets it go. Instead, he plucks the keychain out of his hand and pockets it. 

"Now I’ll just have two very cute keychains." 

**3rd Year - 1st Semester - 4th Month**

Donghyuck does half spins in his chair as he watches Jeno scramble around the room. He has his legs up on his seat and his knee hits his desk, stopping his momentum, and he just spins the other way until his other knee hits the desk and thus it repeats.

Jeno looks through the stack of papers on his own desk, opens and trifles through each of the drawers before closing them again, and crouches down to look under the desk. All for a little USB. 

Donghyuck enjoys watching the lines of Jeno’s body as he searches through his belongings while Donghyuck himself sits being somewhat useless and taking the occasional sip from his drink. 

Jeno takes to searching in between the piles of blankets and pillows. 

“Go check the university Lost & Found, maybe even the Appearing Object soulmate section,” Donghyuck says with a teasing lilt to his voice and none of the melancholy he actually feels at the thought. “Maybe someone left it there, along with their number and a looooooove letter.”

That gets Donghyuck a pillow to his face and he laughs. 

“This definitely wouldn’t have happened if I could just email myself the damn presentation but no, why would that be allowed? The professor would simply perish if she held the tutorial in any other room even though there’s no fucking wifi in the current one.” 

Donghyuck tunes him out as Jeno keeps muttering about how he doesn’t have enough time to go buy another USB before classes start now that the two of them live 20 minutes away from campus and turns to properly face his desk, getting ready to do his own homework. 

Donghyuck lets out a startled laugh when he notices a curious little thing beside his own pen.

“Jeno, you’re such a dumbass.” Donghyuck holds up the blue USB. "Now say thank you, Donghyuck.”

Jeno groans in relief. "There’s no way you found that there. Thank you, Donghyuck," Jeno choruses as he takes the USB and flips it over in his hands. “You seriously mean to tell me I looked through every inch of my side of the room while it was right here?” 

“Deserved for putting your shit in my space.”

“I didn’t,” Jeno grumbles. 

“Mhm, I’m sure it just walked its way over here,” Donghyuck says. “Now go, you’re gonna be late.”

Jeno sticks his tongue out at Donghyuck before taking his belongings and rushing out of the dorm.

**3rd Year - 2nd Semester - 3rd Month**

Donghyuck does not realize he's missing his wallet until he's already at the front of the line, having placed an order for a triple-triple and two maple pecan danishes. He frantically pats his back pockets, front pockets, jacket pockets, checks inside his book bag and does not find hide nor hair of his cute bear wallet.

"Uh, sorry, I don't think- I can't find my wallet." Donghyuck's heart is on the verge of beating out of his chest. Is it a blessing or a curse that he knows the cashier this time?

Taeyong offers a kind smile. "Let's say it's on me this time." 

Donghyuck is used to purposefully leaving his wallet at home when one of his older friends invites him out to eat but having to rely on the offer like this makes him hope the ground swallows him where he stands. 

"Thanks, hyung. I'll pay you back next time." Donghyuck nods with purpose. 

“No need," Taeyong waves him off as he hands him his danishes and the receipt. "Consider it a gift."

"And as my gift to you, I'll threaten Johnny-hyung into getting you guys centipedes and turtles like you want." 

"Don't bother, he'd kick your ass,” Taeyong doesn’t hesitate to say.

Donghyuck balks at the lack of trust in him. "He'd never even try, he loves me way way way way way-"

He's interrupted by the person behind him pointedly clearing their throat and Donghyuck startles, having half forgotten his surroundings. He offers an apologetic smile and moves aside to wait for his coffee to be served and wallow in his loss in the meantime.

The wallet was something his younger brothers had bought for him as a going away to university present, saying the cartoon bears resembled him. It's gotten almost 3 years of good use but he was supposed to use it next year, too, at least until graduation. A little university companion. 

He can’t remember the last time he had hold of his wallet, except that he put it in his back pocket when he was leaving in the morning. 

He curses his lack of a soulmate. Taeyong never loses anything anymore because it will always materialize next to Johnny and vice versa. If he'd already met his destined, his other half, his missing puzzle piece, as the movies say, then he could rely on them to find and return it. Or maybe he _has_ already met them and he just hadn't lost anything until now, so he should definitely go check the lost and found tomorrow. The thought of his soulmate doesn’t have the same excitement as before, for reasons Donghyuck is aware of but actively continues to ignore because there's nothing he can do about that situation.

He grabs his coffee, thanking the server who he'd seen around campus, and makes for the door. The sky outside is darkening and he wants to sleep for 20 hours straight but it's only Wednesday, two more days of lectures and homework and assignments left before he even has a chance to breathe. 

Perhaps his soulmate is a scammer who'd just take the 20 or so dollars and his student card, never even calling him. His mood sours at that and he's glad that he didn't have his credit card in there today. 

Maybe he can hope for human kindness instead because anybody could find his wallet, not just his soulmate. He has his name and phone number in the identification card in his wallet, so whoever finds it could call him directly. Maybe whoever finds it on a TTC seat or on a library table or on the floor of a lecture hall will contact him, out of the goodness of their heart. 

He takes the stairs two at a time to their little home, opens the door to his and Jeno's room, and is greeted with the most unexpected scene. Jeno’s sitting on his chair, looking down at the object in his hands, and he looks up when he hears Donghyuck at the entrance. He holds up the object a little and Donghyuck gets a good look at it.

"Oh," Donghyuck lets out a little sigh as recognition sets in.

"It kind of just appeared on my desk," Jeno explains. 

"Oh," Donghyuck repeats as he tries to wrap his mind around the situation.

Donghyuck lost his wallet somewhere in the big, bad outside world. 

He hoped that a stranger would find and return it to him. He wondered if he'd already met his soulmate in passing and thus it would materialize next to them. 

Jeno says it materialized next to him. 

There are two very big dots that need to be connected and unlike most situations, Donghyuck's not sure he's up to connecting them; especially if this all goes sideways, especially if Jeno doesn’t feel the same after knowing him for so long.

Donghyuck's heart is at his throat, unsure of how to proceed. 

"I have the biggest crush on you," Jeno blurts out. 

Donghyuck falls from the sky. He thinks he’s fairly good at reading the mood, reading people, and knowing what they think about him but the thought of Jeno actually liking him was laughable even a moment ago. It’s something he’d considered for a moment, one night ages ago, after spending a whole day with Jeno and being so endeared that his chest hurt, but the hope was banished soon after. 

It feels unreal to hear the words from Jeno’s mouth.

"Oh." Donghyuck's not certain he knows any word other than that anymore. It’s all happening too fast. 

Jeno's wide-eyed look melts away as he cracks a smile at that. “Despite knowing you for this long, I still don't quite know what all your 'oh's mean."

"It means that I've had to talk myself out of asking you out every day for the past year," Donghyuck admits. 

Jeno's eye smile makes an appearance at that and Donghyuck thinks he, too, will simply melt away. 

"Well, that's a relief,” Jeno sighs and brushes a hand through his hair. “Come in now, put your things down, and grab your wallet.”

Donghyuck puts down his backpack and the atmosphere isn’t awkward or strange but definitely so, so new. The tentativeness reminds him of the very first day when the two of them had met, so hopeful that they’d like each other and so careful to not cross any lines. It all puts Donghyuck off-kilter, just a little. 

"Also, I probably have you beat because I liked you since the middle of second year and it's already the end of our third." Jeno sounds a little too smug for Donghyuck's liking, considering the length of the crush didn't lead to anything anyway.

"I liked you since before last year, too, dumbass. Why didn't you even say anything?" Donghyuck approaches Jeno’s desk and leans his hip against it. 

Jeno's indignant spluttering is endearing beyond belief. "You just said you were talking yourself out of asking!" 

Donghyuck stares at Jeno for a second before leaning down until their faces are at the same height. "I was just curious," Donghyuck starts, "what it would be like to kiss you?"

"Try and find out," Jeno whispers.

It's just a press of lips and a sigh, hardly a kiss, but Donghyuck's heart soars. There will be uncountably more kisses in the future, he's certain. Donghyuck wants to know those pillowy lips in every possible way.

He straightens and offers Jeno one of the paper packets he’d been carrying in reply. "I brought you a maple pecan danish." 

"Oh, thank you," Jeno says with soft eyes and a softer voice. His favourite.

They exchange their objects, Jeno taking the danish and Donghyuck taking the offered wallet. Donghyuck puts his own danish down and runs his fingers over the imprinted bears. He thinks of all the other times when they must've returned each other's lost belongings without ever realizing. 

"Wait, but how are we so clueless?" Donghyuck exclaims. "We'd literally find all of each other's stuff and just be like, 'haha you're a fool for looking everywhere for it when it was right here'. All along, we were fools for a much bigger reason." Donghyuck can hardly believe how comically long this has gone on for. 

Jeno takes Donghyuck's free hand with his own. 

“Maybe the universe just decided to put its most endearing dumbasses together.”

Donghyuck rolls his eyes at the cheesiness but holds onto Jeno’s hand tighter nonetheless. 

Most endearing dumbasses, indeed.

**Author's Note:**

> it's the first time I've written in a while and it's weird writing a story where COVID doesn't exist, everything in here seems like remnants of a better time. physically going to uni, riding on a crowded train or standing in line at tim's? Been a while since i've done those. 
> 
> anyway thanks to dream's 2021 season's greeting for the nohyuck content (haechan head on jeno shoulder, jeno hand under haechan chin !!!) for the inspiration and motivation to actually get this done. 
> 
> hope you enjoyed! consider leaving kudos and a comment to let me know your thoughts~
> 
> Edit: Now that authors have been revealed, come talk to me on twitter: [courtingdemons!](https://twitter.com/courtingdemons)  
> 


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